PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haitians seeking to obtain passports and national identification cards can now do so online by applying on a site the government of Haiti launched Apr. 2.
Launching “Plateforme de demande en ligne de document d’identité,” known by its French acronym Delidoc, is a response to the large crowds that have gathered outside immigration offices for passport applications since the United States opened a humanitarian parole travel process in January.
“This new system will allow the government to receive passport applicants with dignity and respect,” Prime Minister Ariel Henry said in a speech announcing the launch. “We ask all civil servants and citizens to make the necessary efforts to adapt to this new system.”
Delidoc brings together several government agencies, among them the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI), the Directorate of Immigration, the National Identification Office (ONI), the National Archives of Haiti.
To access the services, applicants must visit www.delidoc.gouv.ht to submit the required forms and payment, then choose an appointment at any immigration office. Agency workers will then deliver the completed documents to applicants when they are ready.
For now, however, the passport and identification card application service is only available to Port-au-Prince residents.
It is also unclear how many days the service will take from when an application is made to when the passport or card is delivered.
Thousands of Haitian citizens have been in need of passports since the U.S. launched its humanitarian parole program. Large crowds of people wanting to take advantage of the programs have flooded Haiti’s immigration offices to apply for a passport, a required document to travel abroad. The spike in demand caused the cost of passports to skyrocket and forced many people to sleep in the courtyard of the government’s offices for their applications to be processed.
Passport process overdue to reform as abuses piled up
Demand has also opened the door to fraudulent activities. The Organization Citoyenne pour une Nouvelle Haïti (OCNH) said some people pretending to have sway in the passport service have charged between 50,000 and 100,000 gourdes for passports, about USD $312.5 to $625. The fee is about five times higher than the official price of 10,000 gourdes to 12,000 gourdes, about USD $62.5 to $75.
The Citizen Protection Office (OPC) in a note in March denounced the inhumane treatment suffered by applicants in the country’s immigration offices, among them beatings, fraud, extortion and blackmail.
Often, people in the crowd get hurt in the pushing and shoving that takes place outside the immigration office. There have been reports of people losing consciousness from being unable to breathe. Just last Wednesday, at the Tabarre immigration offices, police and passport seekers clashed after the latter accused the law enforcement members of peddling. Local media reported that several people were injured, including a woman.
Another group — “N ap mache pou lavi” — also criticized immigration agents and the police, who demand sexual favors from women and young girls, in exchange for the passport books.
“What has happened in recent weeks in front of immigration offices in several cities across the country should be of concern to all of us as a people,” Henry said.
Concerns raised about data security
Delidoc became operational on Sunday, Apr. 2, two days after its launch announcement.
However, in the few hours after the announcement on Friday, some people in telecommunications questioned how secure it is. Jean Marie Altema, director general of the National Council of Telecommunications (CONATEL), was among them.
“It is important to secure all parts of the site,” Altema said on Twitter Friday. “It will create trust among users. In addition, the security of the site is also a good thing for the owner.”
By Sunday, Altema seemed satisfied with what he saw of the live site.
“The Delidoc site is now operational according to security rules and principles,” Altema added on Sunday. “The security certificate is available, the transactions are effective in the gouv.ht domain. I invite all those who are in need to use the platform.”
